August 26, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:39 PM :: 404 Views

Second Amendment: “These arbitrary restrictions in Hawaii are unique and burdensome with no parallel in other states."

DLE Creates Virtual Reality Capitol Security Cordon

Before State Acquittals, Leader of “Murder Inc” street gang quietly plead guilty to federal charges

ILind: … Bronson Gouveia, who reportedly controlled the now-notorious street gang known as Murder Inc., quietly pleaded guilty last month in a deal with federal prosecutors just weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin.

(CLUE: The State Judiciary can’t get the job done. The Federal Judiciary can.)

Gouveia pleaded guilty to possessing a quantity of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, drug trafficking conspiracy, and two firearms violations, including possession of a .40 caliber pistol….

Gouveia, 47, has a long criminal history with nearly 50 arrests and 22 prior convictions, 16 of those on felony charges dating back to 1997.

Gouveia has been in custody since he was arrested in January 2019 for shooting his girlfriend in Kahaluu just two days before Christmas 2018. He was convicted of assault and firearms charges in state court for that incident and was sentenced to two 10-year terms.

The .40 caliber handgun that is the basis for one of the federal firearms charges was the weapon Gouveia used to shoot his girlfriend, court records show.

He was indicted on federal drug charges in December 2018 after a quantity of methamphetamine was found in Gouveia’s home during the investigation of the shooting. Those charges were later dismissed while Gouveia was in state custody and the federal investigation was still underway. He was again indicted on drug and gun charges by a federal grand jury in August 2022, and a superseding grand jury indictment last December piled on additional charges, including threatening a witness and her mother.

The indictment alleged he had texted a witness that “he was going to ‘cut her up slowly’ and that her ‘mom going [to] die’ for ‘ratting’ him out to law enforcement officers….”

Gouveia’s sentencing on the charges has not yet been scheduled.

Three members of Murder Inc, the street gang known by what had been Gouveia’s street name, were acquitted following a two week trial in state court this month. Despite the acquittal, information disclosed in the case suggested that Murder Inc and a second gang, known as West Side, effectively controlled their module at the Oahu Community Correctional Center according to gang rules.

Mike Miske, who was convicted last year on multiple federal charges but died while in federal custody while awaiting sentencing, was housed in the same unit of the Federal Detention Center as Gouveia, and the two reportedly communicated frequently. Further, court records show Jacob “Jake” Smith was assaulted in the Federal Detention Center by members of the West Side gang in retaliation for his testimony against Miske….

read … Leader of “Murder Inc” street gang pleads guilty to federal charges | i L i n d

Acid attack suspect pleads not guilty to charge some say is too light

HNN: … Some question why the suspect’s assault charge was not as severe as in previous acid attacks, and raise the possibility of a hate crime ….

SA: Victim in Chinatown acid attack was targeted, judge says | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Acid attack suspect pleads not guilty to charge some say is too light

Army and governor’s response to leases ‘framework’ deadline gets pushback

HNN: … “What Gov. Green needs to do is to get the Pentagon to recognize this instead of just vaguely alluding to eminent domain as if it’s a boogeyman that’s supposed to scare us into submission,” said Wayne Tanaka, Sierra Club of Hawaii chapter director.

“Eminent domain action will just flush all of this down the toilet,” he added.

“I explained very clearly that it could be counterproductive for the federal government to take our land because everyone saw what happened on Mauna Kea,” said Green.

“There was protest and it was impossible to move forward,” he added.

Green spoke of what he wants if there were to be a land swap.

“We protect the land. We make sure that things like Makua Valley returns to Hawaii, that we get monies to help remediate the weaponry that’s been used there, the bombs,” said Green.

He also described “extra concessions.”

“I want to see housing come. I’m asking the military to build 5,000 houses, for example, for the soldiers, so that it takes down some of the pressure on us,” said Green.

Green’s office said there have been no official conversations about a land exchange nor any parcels identified.

The Sierra Club says there’s no rush to move ahead and doubts there’s a legal way to create a framework by the end of the year.

“That’s part of the problem is the lack of transparency. We’re hearing very conflicting things coming from the governor’s office,” said Tanaka.

“There is no emergency right now in terms of timing,” he added.

At the end of this month, the state says it will launch a new public website that will include formal documents received from the Army, background on the leases and updates as discussions progress….

read … Army and governor’s response to leases ‘framework’ deadline gets pushback

Lahaina: Lawyers Still Pushing ‘Toxins’ Scare

CB: … The Corps of Engineers said in 2024 that it took hundreds of samples from the properties it cleared to make sure the land was safe for rebuilding. State health officials and their partners have also tested soil, sand, and nearshore water for various contaminants and screened blood samples from 557 people affected by the fires for lead, a metal the department said would be the equivalent of the canary in the coal mine for indicating exposure to other toxins from the fire.

But the (lawyers are still hungry) …

read … Researchers: Lahaina Burn Zone May Not Be As Safe As People Think - Honolulu Civil Beat

Maui STRs keep Hawaii economy strong

SA: … My company employs 80 individuals and collaborates with 70 local independent contractors supporting the tourism market. We manage more than 130 long-term rental units, including 81 managed for FEMA, and 330 short-term rental units (we only do legal rental units), with 161 on the “Minatoya list.” Despite losing two offices, two warehouses and a laundry facility in the August 2023 Lahaina fire, along with 23 of our employees losing everything or displaced, we’ve remained committed to our community….

read … Maui STRs keep Hawaii economy strong

Sinking Optimism Among Hawai‘i Business Leaders

HBM: … Survey shows nearly 60 percent of business leaders think the state's economy will get worse in the year ahead ….

read … Sinking Optimism Among Hawai‘i Business Leaders - Hawaii Business Magazine

State continues push to hire federal workers impacted by budget cuts

HPR: … It’s been about six months since Gov. Josh Green put out an executive order to speed up the hiring of former federal workers hit by budget cuts for state jobs.

The program received about 6,000 applications and hired about 140 people. About a third of those who applied worked for the federal government.

It takes about two weeks to be hired through Operation Hire Hawaiʻi. The usual process can take months….

read … State continues push to hire federal workers impacted by budget cuts | Hawai'i Public Radio

Two Members Quit Just Before Elections Panel To Meet On Disputed Vote Count

CB: … It is unclear when replacements will be named for Young, who was appointed by Senate President Ron Kouchi to represent Oʻahu, and Kuwada, who was appointed by former House Speaker Scott Saiki to represent Maui.

Elections Commission vacancies must be filled within 15 days, according to state law. If that doesn’t happen, the law calls for the vacancies to “be filled promptly” by the chief justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, Mark Recktenwald.

The vacancies have complicated the commission’s work at a time when some election observers are worried about whether or not the state has a fair election process.

“I feel that it’s important to have a full quorum to consider the issues, and they are very significant issues,” said Judith Mills Wong of the League of Women Voters of Hawaiʻi. “They need to be considered before the next legislative session, such as the suggestion that more observers are needed throughout the entire voting process.”

In addition to the recommendation for more election observers, which the league supports, the commission’s permitted interaction group has recommended audits of the county and state vote-counting processes.

A report by the Office of Elections and the Kauaʻi County Elections Division released Friday refutes some findings in the permitted interaction group report, arguing the discrepancy in ballots is much smaller than 661.

There is only a six-vote difference between the official record of mail ballots in the Statewide Voter Registration System (27,057) and the valid mail ballots collected by the county, (27,051), the new report said.

Both counts are far higher than the 26,414 ballots stated in the permitted interaction group report as being the county’s figure. The group’s focus on the county envelope collection forms — the daily log of ballots collection — was flawed, as these records were not used for reconciliation, the new report said….

IGNORED BY ALL: Long Lines Suppress Republican Votes on Election Day: City Clerk Plans to do it Again

read … Two Members Quit Just Before Elections Panel To Meet On Disputed Vote Count - Honolulu Civil Beat

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